in the. e.u. it's out about credit rating agencies after a downgrade of portugal's debt to junk status leaves world markets panicking over a fifth bailout and a knock on effect elsewhere. russia's foreign minister describes the nato its role in libya as quote cynical saying it comes up too high of a price of civilian deaths and a continued stalemate. and grease the detains of the last of the boats headed to the blockaded gaza while the un is expected to publish a long awaited report on israel's deadly assault on last year's fatah.

worldwide news live from moscow this is r.t. i'm wrong research and welcome to the program unjustified and unfair but with the power to determine at the fate of entire countries that's the verdict of germany's finance minister and the world's big three credit rating agencies after portugal has that downgraded to junk status the move is having a disastrous effect on the e.u. ripping apart the relative calm book by a second greek bailout the panic is proving contagious with fresh fears emerging that ireland it may also need another cash injection it comes as germany a user biggest economy debate the very legality of the bailed out stuff more on this we're joined live by professor philippe just a teen from the high finance institute at the university all of us thank you for joining us today why why are we seeing such a strong reaction from the e.u.

to this downgrade i'll be you know credit rating agencies simply doing their job. i mean here in europe exactly we have to face a situation where there is an actor which is raising a concern which is really is that bad news for the markets and since investors so that's why. the politicians and i think you work in zone try to say this actor is not very long but indeed that what is very bad is it's a new it's been said today there is a need of cash many countries in the european community and especially thank you resume at least that was one of the big points that we can see now and on the island are also to be on lights and maybe tomorrow so you think you saying then that the e.u. is using this as an opportunity to offload responsibility and if so why now. yes i think that could be seen as a real need to be a real big point to. today the new tries to find responsibilities and maybe to say

to the public opinion we've got a problem here you know that's not all of the are real people what is very very. obvious is to say for instance that. european politicians played say to the financial markets are to be very bad words in europe and that's not true in fact investors are trying to see a trade to understand what could be zero to keep the cash in it's a different countries of europe the european countries let's not and let's let's i'm sorry for interrupting let's address the issue of control here i mean it is the e.u. using this as an opportunity to push through legislation which would give them some level of control credit rating agencies do you think. it's could be of course you see i think it's a bad case to be really say is there any real. criticism that the g. gone on for instance rating agencies many of them and there is always know there is

absolutely no possibility see that's the way that for instance a gradient. for rating agencies you can see there was a bad one. european commission that's right you look for instance these are different it's a different process that the. your own work on the european debt and each times the conclusion was the same rating these the rating is correct the only problem that we've got that's maybe on the agenda was you don't grading some of the european officials. as rating agencies start the communication but you can understand that we are exactly far from the rule or visual rules of rating agencies which is to do all the units all the opinions nothing more. so it's an opinion as you say and nothing more but as we've reported the latest wave of panic spreads island on many that wondering whether the crisis is about to ignite and there's just

a final thing. i think this fear could be just defined by investors about it again or that's not the cycle given by the adjustments which in theory are in process it's real easy station operating and really there are different problems to the european countries we got into but the gate and we've got a real real big issue considering the cash in which there is not can't even find an end to the refinance in some distant countries because of the illegal groups that benefit is coming from the lake of the rules and countries and their bad economic news and secure again it's a question of grading if only we can see these is real weakness responding to responding to that is a belief that things that you are you mentioned you mentioned that the great mass and you're saying that of the fair among the eurozone is justified by the e.u. is ordered greece to sell a huge part of its national assets to raise capital often a prices far below market value in this us on a fire sale even make

a dent and greece's mountain of debt to think. i think that there are these very different issues in for instance that brooke was a proposal to sail part of i said so maybe he's agreed to possibly as it's owned by the greek states and maybe one point he's trying to say to the european countries that we have to be here with us here these countries cannot repay forces they are prolife the author country muroc we have to play for them so we have in the public opinions of the different countries for instance in france or germany some risk off we can say. right some something like that against we it's against weak case our irish often reported this so what is missing from this country is to say we try to do our best for instance we have a vote in the us there are plans and now we are. to sell ourselves its means at

which very our best to solve this is reaching pretty small towns we really mean here and here or maybe there is a missing girl by all that but we could be made to be the great britain of the politicians and the european zone is to be understood by the hour or good that was already summer summer so some are saying that these bailouts it's just a way really to maintain the pain professor as i think i'm afraid that's all the time we have for today from the high finance institute and the university of paris thank you. but the cash strapped in you has given christine legarde much to think about in her first days in charge of the i.m.f. now she told reporters that she's picking up the baton from her predecessor to deal with the problems on reforms that began under dominic strauss kahn but is not is christine for reports there's still more interest in muckraking than money matters i from violence on the streets of the middle east.

to protests in north africa to europe. for portugal's credit rating has been deemed junk. and in greece. where unemployment hovers at about sixteen percent and the debt crisis has sparked anger nearly all of this anger stemming from poverty and failed economic policies in the us as well high unemployment sits atop a mountain of problems like a housing crisis and slow financial growth. this is the world christine legarde inherits as she begins her new post as managing director of the international monetary fund and her first formal meeting with the press at the i.m.f. headquarters in washington she seemed optimistic in her hopes the international monetary fund is here to serve and to provide services to its hundred and eighty seven members it's not the sexiest of news stories but still the inaugural press

conference for the new managing director of the i.m.f. there garner quite a bit of media attention most likely it had less to do with her feel of our own and more to do with the reason why she's here. campbell what lessons do you think more to be drawn from the way the u.s. legal system and go this time case will be any reforms in the human rights and human resources policies here do you plan any changes in them in light of the controversy over mr strauss kahn the controversy of course with dominique strauss kahn accused of raping a hotel maid in new york and that case now starting to crumble after it turned out the maid had credibility problems advancer the i.m.f. were laborde will take over let me ask you about a couple of issues what worries you the most did her best to stay on message we cannot be only driven by the hope to

reduce fiscal deficits and organize fiscal consolidation in a big way whether you look at advanced economies whether you look at emerging markets or low income countries the issue of employment. it is a critical one the one hundred eighty seven nation organization has already lent one hundred sixty billion dollars to cash strapped nations many of which have little hope for paying it back. so the real questions are manifested here on the streets of some of the nation suffering the most are accepting aid from the i.m.f. has been presented at times as the only option as austerity measures are now being put into place the questions too are in the dollar and how its value may or may not change under her watch her managing the debt crisis around the world will fall at the top of her agenda as the rest of the world watches with hope first ability in an unstable world in washington christine freeze out our team. something is past

the hour now here in moscow you with arts here and russia's foreign minister has slammed nato for its quote cynical actions in libya during an interview with russian t.v. . off said that the alliance his tactic of bombing the country until colonel gadhafi steps down has inflicted too many unjustified civilian deaths. has been following all of it off had to say let's cross over and speak to him right now. to hire someone who has been criticizing notas campaign in libya for four months already and it's staying firm on its stance isn't it. well that's right we heard from sort of the level of today was really russia reiterating what has been its stance concerning. discord in the middle east since that discord began now the message that russia has been wanting to put across has been that they want to hear voices not violence to try and come to peace in the middle east and in north africa as well concerning libya now. again today saying that it's when

it came to situations like syria or to yemen that russia. vehemently opposed any form of outside intervention because they feel so let down by the what they see is the mission creep essentially of outside intervention into libya. somewhat more remote if in his language the days he criticized actions in libya the. nato is bombing libya longer than it was bombing yugoslavia several years ago and there is no end in sight it's obvious that politics is a cynical matter we hear from the western capitals that the bombing should go on until gadhafi backs off but the human cost of these political statements is very high school student. the lover of the four russian foreign minister also went on to

talk about relations between russia and the united kingdom. this comes after they had been some reports coming out of the u.k. that a proposed visa free regime visa free travel between russia and the united kingdom was going to be affected by the death of alexander leaping younker in two thousand and six while the former russian security offices there is according to mr love not one of those stumbling blocks it's as far as his talks with downing street go this isn't something that has come up see a problem when it comes to the discussions on visa free travel between russia and the united kingdom and there is a another stumbling block in relations between russia and nato the u.s. missile defense project in europe comments on this. whole regarding the nato missile defense shield based in eastern europe. had

something interesting to say he said if russia was to be involved in the discussions in the construction of a missile defense shield. russia would be very willing to be part of it and they could impart their expertise on technology technological ability in building not shields however this is something that has been said by nato side that they are not that interested in doing we had expected to hear something positive from nato in recent talks that were held in sochi between russia and nato that didn't come out so russia now saying no that essentially offering their hand in friendship to nato saying if you want us we are available and we're willing to be part of this this project certainly seems russia is willing but nato is not in a rather defiant stance as well thank you. well still ahead for you this hour here on out see why seeing the light could be deadly. pilot

who. is simple that's a green light. by someone on the ground but. even more. now a quarter past the hour here in moscow a french ship bound for gaza with has been a star in crete it was the last of the ten vessels initially taking part in the voyage to the blockaded palestinian territory it comes as the u.n. is due to report on last year's israeli raid on a humanitarian flotilla which killed nine activists israel still struggling to settle the role that followed. explains. today thursday is the deadline that the united nations gave itself to submit a report into last may's patella incident in which nine turkish citizens were killed while trying to break israel's blockade on gaza for the last few days this

radio turkish citizens had a meeting around the clock in new york to try and reach some kind of formula that is acceptable to both sides at the heart of the dispute is istanbul's insistence that tel aviv apologize for its role in events but so far israel has refused to do this offering instate with great for the loss of life now the head of the commission jeffrey palmer has said regardless of whether or not both sides are able to reach some kind of quiet mutual agreement he is issuing that report today tuesday and this has been an impetus to both the israelis and turks to try and on out the differences to be conciliation because most people do understand that if the report is issued with all of the conciliation it will be much harder for there to be consideration to be made at a later date now it is also widely understood that the report is likely to uphold israel's illegal right to impose a naval blockade on gaza but at the same time it is likely to charge the israelis with using excessive force that is what has so far indicated that it is prepared to

pay compensation but as long as this doesn't create a place to vent and open it up for food that such illegal claims. or where you are without you are going to have eyes from around the world for you this hour in india a priest thirty five thirty nine injured after a train and crashed into a bus there were over a cross and dragged along for over five hundred meters the bus was carrying guests from a wedding party that had stopped at the crossing due to a broken axle the injured were taken to a nearby hospital with the help of the local people who rushed to the scene. the roof of a football stadium a leading dutch football club has collapsed it's still unclear if anyone has been killed or injured in the accident at the home ground of f.c. twente they are finished actually second in the dutch league last season it's not known what caused the collapse which happened during work to upgrade the state in pasadena thirty two thousand emergency services are working at the scene to identify any casualties. parts of our southwest china suffering from

continued heavy flooding it with rain triggered mudslides cutting off access to a pivotal highway in the province of a city one state media reports that at least twenty five people have been killed across the country over the past week due to downpours seasonal floods have already taken the lives of around two hundred sixty people in china over the last month. their lives are at their most vulnerable during takeoff and landing and now there's an increasing threat from the ground namely a beam of light you can really reach over reports on the police hunt for the hooligans with laser pointers which blind pilots at the worst possible moment. they really become clear proof of the downfall of a laser or indeed i can be a major distraction for food bill or christian are now doing and. the consequences could be catastrophic if someone is struggling well flying an aircraft with

hundreds of passengers on board blinding pilots by laser beams has become an increasing use isn't much over fifty attacks registered since the beginning of the year. the latest incident was that. the pilots of a tupolev passenger ally in a riding from istanbul were dazzled by paul green lights aimed at the aircraft by someone on the ground just flight and not the problem. but i think that it's b.s. it's only a matter of time before that that accident occurs we were going to during landing just one hundred meters above the ground when we were only a kilometer away from the runway as a result we were in danger of losing control the crew was dazzled with a catastrophe could have happened. in the worst case scenario pilots can land automatically but no full aircraft can learn a lot of pilots and even if they do those in the peach need to remain in control

and be able to see. the effect of a laser beam on a pilot can be compared to that of lightning it blinds you. potentially lethal laser guns and cause it from china can be bought in russia for as little as a hundred dollars firing a laser beam as far as five kilometers they can burn through paper and even plastic . in the u.s. sales of such devices are banned russian legislators are also considering outlawing them and toughening punishment for this offense will some are shining a spotlight on the police calling for more action acquittals in court everyone's waiting for new laws but there's no excuse for police and action on the ground of our current legislation is good enough is allows for the arrest and imprisonment of such fools for up to ten years in prison as of now there has been only one arrest in russia for in town she only targeting an aircraft with

a laser but this suspect still under investigation attempting to down a plane by other means would be classed as terrorism public concern in russia is rising about the potentially equally serious risk from laser allowed and their high tech hooliganism exceeded a grouch over our team still. die in a high profile photo journalists have been convicted in georgia of spying two of them are russian and georgian citizens were sentenced to fourteen years in prison the others got eleven years and initial arrest of the group was described as a publicist a stunt by the georgian opposition well that's a lot of what if you go pers going for more details on this and you've got not a good time to be a journalist in georgia what more do you know about a outcome or hearing of this is where an interesting story because nine people have been found guilty of cooperating with foreign intelligence services and supplying secret information to them these or high profile al photographers including the

personal photographer of president mikheil saakashvili his wife was actually also means that during the course of the investigation there also photographers from well known news agencies like the associated press or the european afforded press service now what's also interesting is that most of these people were detained on wednesday just yesterday and so now on the leg. they would be being given quite heavy jail sentences we're talking about eleven year long sentences to fourteen years in prison that one was actually received by a russian citizen and was the longest sentence out of the entire group now of the a warrior off the defense signed papers illegally of waging with him not to disclose any information all of this case the only thing he said is the only proof the opportunities were using. their key in this case was that they found some sim

cards with classified information on them but that's all we know we don't know what type of information and one else they used in this case all of the defendants are pleaded not guilty. nevertheless most of them have been found guilty and it looks like they have a long time to serve in jail now now the opposition in georgia claims that this was a publisher he stands conducted by the authorities to divert attention of the public from the a real social and economic problems in georgia. all right so you say you're going to his going to i'm sure this is not the last we've heard of this story that you're going to thanks very much. time how you would r.t. that such as some business news now like arenas here in the studio.

hello welcome to business here an article to have you with me europe is tightening belts the central bank has decided to increase its key interest rates by twenty five basis points in order to cool inflation the move could help europe strong economies to avoid overheating but could be a double edged sword for peripheral countries now to discuss this issue i'm joined by james ashley seen economist at our county markets hello to you thanks for joining the program now that actually what is this e.c.b. decision mean for the troubled economy such as greece and portugal. well the seabees decisions tight monetary policy means higher interest rates across the whole of the euro area unfortunate that doesn't apply uniformly so what we're actually seeing is that whereas in the pre-crisis period for a given level of interest rates businesses and households across the euro area interest who are comparable interest rates regardless of where they are situated right now we have a position whereby interest rates in say germany are far lower businesses and

households and they are in the periphery say for greece or portugal so a lot we do although it's raise interest rate increase does mean higher rates across the whole of the euro area unfortunately the areas that need least the tightest management records that are going to have the most tightening as a result of this decision. now tell me if it's so hard for the for all countries why does the e.c.b. choose tightening policy is the risk of overheating that height. of the z.b. is always been absolutely clear that it focuses on the euro as a whole. and for the negative headlines you get coming out about europe at the moment have to remember that greece portugal and ireland combined together only account for around six percent of your area output much larger economies such as germany france russia performing relatively well here obviously capital markets we expect europe of this for the region as a whole to increase by around two percent this year and a similar pace next year when inflation is not to fall back below two percent and still march or april next year so oh i didn't say in any way that the viewer is in

danger of overheating it's certainly quite difficult to justify such a community of monetary policy but when you look at the region as a result there's a hole now debt problems on the one hand and if i sleep pressures on the other hand why should the balance be between the two policies. i think from the c.b.c. spectator there are two important points that question firstly if you look at the levels of bets they are perfect sustainable for the year as a whole against a difference with three which is a whole and individual families within it spread compared to the total g.d.p. that is followed in the u.s. and is poor comparable to that in the u.k. the real issue is when some of the initial economies such as greece are the political will see the second point and perhaps even more importantly see these perspective is that the debt problems our fiscal problem require fiscal solution leeson these mandate is monetary policy and the living state reflation of the meeting temporizing if it's in if it is to do so i think that this require further

tightening in winter policy so a city can operate in a bubble it has to take into account the fact that these bad problems are continuing and that is having a spillover effect since the financial markets and the real economy in certain pockets of the euro area but nonetheless when you look at the inflation outlook i think title minister policy is still required and well how do you think the easy decision will influence the euro exchange rate which is fluctuating moment. i think today's immediate decision shouldn't have a big impact it was widely expected in financial markets and certainly in terms of where your dollar has been trading since the decision was announced forty five minutes ago is not me much of an impact but if you look further ahead i think what we can expect is that in the near term if we get any positive news coming out of periphery we could actually see some strengthening but then looking ahead into next year we see we do expect to see the euro be weakening somewhat but also this actually the e.c.b. says it will refuse to accept restructured greek bonds as collateral in the event of default which ratings agencies are threatening to impose so what's the solution

to the problem you think. this is an extremely important so he said he works to stop accepting collateral and that would have immediate ramifications and consequences for the greek banking sector and that would obviously reply across the u.s. it's extremely important but i think you have to remember that the she has a great deal freedom to set the rules for the collateral that it accepts and if it wants to wiggle out of the position it's got itself into it can do so and that could either be through providing the greek banks emergency liquidity assistance through the greek central bank or by instead of relying on external crazy credit ratings agencies relying on its own internal rating so i think he's a b. he's not going to be the one that pulls the trigger and says that actually greece is in default of course is a banking crisis is an important point but i think that these people will these mistakes create extricate itself from the position it's now in ok james astley's here columnist of at r.b.c. capital markets thanks for sharing these thoughts in the program thank you very

much and that's all the business for this hour be back with more in just under an hour's time stay with us for headline news up next. the. banking.